Chair



June 25, 1963 S. B. HENDRICKSON CHAIR Filed Aug. 31, 1961 I I I I lINVENTOR. W

MWYW

ATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,095,233 CHAIR Severin B. Hendrickson,Templeton, Mass, assignor to Heywood-Wakefield Company, Gardner, Mass, acorporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 31, 1961, Ser. No. 135,213 3Claims. (Cl. 297-396) This invention relates to body-supportingfurniture and more particularly to chairs and the like.

The development of synthetic fibers and more particularly thedevelopment of poly-urethane foam has provided chair manufacturers witha material for use in chair cushions which has great resiliency, greatelasticity, light weight, and absence of odor. This synthetic materialhas been utilized with commercial success during recent years.

However, a polyurethane foam cushion, as it is commonly employed, hasone undesirable characteristic. When a cushion is compressed in thecenter, the edges of the cushion spring upward and inward. This isbecause of the lateral structural bonds, running throughout thepoly-urethane foam. For example, when a vertical back cushion containspoly-urethane foam, it tends to spring forward along the sides and inthe head and neck area of an occupant whose weight compresses the centerportion of the cushion. This reaction to the compression causesuncomfortable pressure on the occupants head, neck and sides and isgenerally unsatisfactory.

The present invention solves this problem by utilizing modularconstruction techniques. A modular head-rest portion is formedintegrally with the back of the chair. This head-rest is comprised of afirm poly-urethane foam filler with upholstery covering and occupies thearea of the back-rest normally corresponding to the head and neck of theoccupant.

The walls of the head-rest, back section, and bottom section form acavity into which is placed a small modular back cushion. The walls ofthe cavity firmly abut the cushion at each end surface. This modularback cushion is precisely dimensioned so as to minimize any bendingeffect. This is accomplished by keeping the vertical dimension small andextending upwardly from the bottom section to a line no higher than themidpoint of a normal roccupants shoulders.

Furthermore, bending is reduced by the modular place ment of the backcushion in the cavity so that the bottom of the cushion is contained bythe seat cushion, and the top of the cushion is contained by thehead-rest.

It is therefore one object of this invention to provide new and improvedfurniture, particularly furniture utilizing modular constructiontechniques.

It is another object of this invention to provide furniture with highdurability and aesthetic appeal.

It is still another object of this invention to provide furniture whichmay be fabricated by relatively inexpensive manufacturing techniques andwhich contains modular components which are easily and inexpensivelycleanable or replaceable.

This invention will be more fully set forth in the following descriptionreferring to the accompanying drawings, and the features of novelty willbe pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and formingpart of this specification.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a chair assembly in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the chair assembly shown in FIG. 1;and

FIG. 3 is a view in perspective partly broken away of a cushion assemblyshown isolated from the chair assembly shown in FIG. 1.

3,095,239 Patented June 25, 1963 Referring to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings,10 generally indicates a chair assembly or the like, which chairassembly may, in accordance with the features of my inventicn, bemanufactured utilizing modular construction techniques.

The back section '12 is preferably formed of a rec tangular box-frame 14which is rigid in its established shape. The interior space within thebox-frame 14 is occupied with a filler material 16 such as hair, foamplastic, or the like.

The side sections 18' and 20, which also act as armrests, areconstructed of box-frames generally in the shape of the sides as shownin FIG. 1. The box-frames are occupied with a filler material such ashair, foam plastic, or the like. The uppermost portions 22 and 24 ofside sections 18 and 20 are thickly padded with a filler material.

The front panel 26 is constructed of a rigid rectangular box-frame. Theinterior space with the box-frame 26 is occupied with a filler material28 such as hair, foam plastic, or the like.

The bottom section 29 is comprised of filler 30, elastic web supportmember 32, bottom rigid rectangular boxframe 34, and air space 36.

Connected to the bottom box-frame 34 are four legs 38. The legs 38 arepreferably in a vertical or slightly angled attitude, but can be ofvarious configurations.

The head-rest 40 is permanently afiixed to back section 12. Thehead-rest 40 is preferably composed of a firm resilient polyurethanefoam cushion 42 contained in an outer covering 44 of vinyl plastic orleather or other suitable material. The outer covering 44 is permanentlyaffixed to the back section 12 at all points of contact such as 46, 48,50 and 52.

Back cushion 54 is preferably composed of a soft, resilient,poly-urethane foam cushion 56 contained in an outer covering 58 of vinylplastic or leather or other suitable material. The outer covering 58completely encloses the foam cushion 56 and can be disengaged therefromby operation of a zipper fastener 69 which is located on three sides ofthe outer covering 58. The back cushion 54 is located modularly in thecavity formed by the underside of head-rest 40, the inner walls '19 and21 of side sections 18 and 20, the forwardmost side 13 of back section12, and the upper portion of filler 30. There is no connection betweenback cushion 54 and any other portion of chair assembly 10. The backcushion 54 remains in place due to the modular arrangement of the chairassembly 10 and the close abutting position that back cushion 54assumes.

Seat cushion 62 is constructed identically to back cushion 54 except forthe flared forward portions 64 and 66 as shown in FIG. 1. Seat cushion62 likewise preferably has a poly-urethane foam cushion 63 contained inan outer covering of vinyl plastic 65 with a zipper fastener providingmeans for disengagement therebetween. The seat cushion 62 is locatedmodularly in the cavity formed by the inner walls 19 and 21 of sidesections 18 and 20', the forwandmost side 68 of back cushion 54 and theupper surface of seat cushion support filler 30.

The entire chair assembly 10, less the three modular units 40, 54 and62, is encased in a covering of vinyl plastic or leather, or othersuitable material.

It should be understood that this invention is not limited to thespecific details of construction and arrangement thereof hereinillustrated, and that changes and modifications may occur to one skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas set forth in the amended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A chair comprising a base; a seat cushion, said seat cushion restingon said base; a back-rest, said backrest mounted on said base;side-walls, said side-walls mounted upon and extending between said baseand backrest; ahead-rest cushion, said head-rest cushion integral lymounted on said back-rest between said side-Walls; a back-rest cushion,said back-rest cushion including a resilient pad of poly-urethane foamand entirely contained in an upholstery covering; fiat surfaces insaid'base, seat-cushion, back-rest, side-walls and head-rest cushiondefining a five-sided cavity for receiving said back-rest cushion; saidback-rest cushion modularly located in the cavity formed by said flatsurfaces located in the area normally corresponding to the middle andlower back of an occupant, said surfaces retaining said back-restcushion in said cavity and limiting the extent of curvature of saidback-rest cushion.

V 2. A chair comprising a base; a seat cushion, said seat cushionresting on said base, a back-rest, said back rest mounted on said base;side-walls, said side-Walls afiixed to said base and back-rest; ahead-rest cushion, said head-rest cushion integrally mounted on saidbackrest between said side-walls; a back-rest cushion, said back-restcushion composed of a resilient pad of polyurethane foam slab andencased in an upholstery cover? ing; the lower surface of said head-restcushion, the forward surface of said backrest, the inner facing surfacesof said side-walls, the upper surface of said base and the rearwardsurface of said seat cushion cooperating to define a five-sided cavityfor receiving and con fining said back-rest cushion, said back-restcushion modularly located in the cavity formed by said surfaces andretained therein by said surfaces, said back-rest cushion conforming tothe back of the occupant providing lateral support thereto.

3. A chair comprising; a base member; a seat cushion mounted upon saidbase member; a back-rest member aflixed to the rear of said base member;side-wall arm members straddling said base and backrest members andaffixed thereto in an attitude perpendicular to the plane of said baseand back-rest members; a head-rest cushion afiixed to and projectingforward from the uppermost portion of said back-rest member; saidhead-rest cushion having a bottom surface thereof, said back-rest memberhaving a forward surface thereof, said side-wall arm members havinginner facing surfaces thereof, said base member having an upper surfacethereof and said seat References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,468,587 Chase et a1. Apr. 26, 1949 2,728,382 BaranskiDec. 27, 1955 2,839,125 Brandon June 17, 1958 2,913,041 Mathison Nov.17, 1959 2,976,916 Schladerrn-undt et a1 Mar. 28, 1961

1. A CHAIR COMPRISING A BASE; A SEAT CUSHION, SAID SEAT CUSHION RESTINGON SAID BASE; A BACK-REST, SAID BACKREST MOUNTED ON SAID BASE;SIDE-WALLS, SAID SIDE-WALLS MOUNTED UPON AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID BASEAND BACKREST; A HEAD-REST CUSHION, SAID HEAD-REST CUSHION INTEGRALLYMOUNTED ON SAID BACK-REST BETWEEN SAID SIDE-WALLS; A BACK-REST CUSHION,SAID BACK-REST CUSHION INCLUDING A RESILIENT PAD OF POLY-URETHANE FOAMAND ENTIRELY CONTAINED IN AN UPHOLSTERY COVERING; FLAT SURFACES IN SAIDBASE,